Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.69 and last traded at $8.74, with a volume of 40966234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VALE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vale from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group cut Vale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $11.50 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Vale from $16.00 to $15.25 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Vale from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $11.30 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vale from $16.50 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.38.

Vale Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.11 and a 200 day moving average of $10.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.12, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. Vale had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 21.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Vale S.A. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Vale by 1.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vale during the second quarter valued at about $125,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vale by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 844,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,428,000 after purchasing an additional 207,129 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vale by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 11,417 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in Vale by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 15,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. 21.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vale Company Profile

Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services.